With further work needed to reach goals set down in the Student Life Initiative, in addition to many other important issues, the Trustees of Dartmouth College will have much to discuss in their five meetings this academic year.
The next meeting, scheduled for the weekend of Nov. 9-11, may be one of the most dramatic and active campus planning sessions in the history of the College.
The Initiative charged the administration to build 500 beds within the next five years. If there is to be a groundbreaking on the first of those dormitories by Spring term, then the Trustees must approve construction this fall, College President James Wright told The Dartmouth in a recent interview.
Additionally, the Trustees will be discussing further campus building projects, including the construction of the announced Kemeny math building -- for which fund-raising is underway -- as well as plans for additional academic buildings.
Most of the Trustees' time at Dartmouth is taken up with committee work, and there they will continue discussions on, among other things, the year's budget and academic initiatives, such as the growth of certain academic programs and departments, Wright said.
To fund many of these new buildings and programs, the Trustees have begun initial discussions on a new capital campaign, and will continue that discussion this fall, possibly aiming to begin in one-and-a-half to two years, Wright said.
The most recent capital campaign -- which ended in 1996 -- titled Will to Excel, raised $560 million on the goal of $500 million.
The Trustees will continue to be involved with the parts of the Initiative involving capital planning, new facilities construction and siting but will take a back seat to Dean of the College James Larimore as to programming, rush and new campus rules for the community, Wright said.
The Trustees will return to their original Five Principle goals -- outlined in a letter in February 1999 -- "periodically" to see how the College is meeting these standards, Wright said.
Throughout all of these physical and programmatic changes to the College, Wright said he hopes to further Dartmouth's ability to "have a diverse community that takes advantage and supports that diversity."
Additionally, the new facilities will help to improve the continuity of residential life and improve the out-of-class experience, he said.
The meetings for the rest of the year will be much the same, though student interest often peaks during the February meeting, when the Trustees determine the cost of tuition for the next academic year.
